laughedatbytime Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 Also, author of possibly the worst play in NFL history, it was the only thing that kept the 1972 Dolphins from being the only team in NFL history to shut out their opponent. RIP, Garo MIAMI -- Garo Yepremian, the former NFL kicker who helped the Miami Dolphins win consecutive NFL championships but is best remembered for a Super Bowl blooper, died Friday of cancer. He was 70. Yepremian's wife, Maritza, said he died at a hospital in Media, Pa. His illness was diagnosed in May 2014, she said. Yepremian played from 1966 to 1981. The native of Cyprus came to the United States at age 22 and kicked in the first NFL game he ever saw. His 37-yard field goal in the second overtime ended the longest game in NFL history, a Dolphins' playoff victory over Kansas City on Christmas 1971, and he helped Miami win back-to-back NFL titles in 1972-73. But Yepremian's gaffe in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl in January 1973 nearly spoiled the Dolphins' bid to complete a perfect season. With Miami leading 14-0 and on the verge of finishing the season 17-0, the Washington Redskins blocked Yepremian's field-goal attempt. He picked up the ball and tried to throw it but fumbled, and the Redskins' Mike Bass ran it 49 yards for a touchdown. "Every airport you go to, people point to you and say, 'Here's the guy who screwed up in the Super Bowl,'" Yepremian said in a 2007 interview. "After a while it bothers you. If it was anybody else he would go crazy, but fortunately I'm a happy-go-lucky guy." Decades later, Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Don Shula was able to laugh as he reminisced about the play -- perhaps the weirdest in Super Bowl history. "I thought, 'Boy, this will be great if Garo kicks this field goal and we go ahead 17-0 in a 17-0 season. What a great way that would be to remember the game,'" Shula said. "And then Garo did what he did, and it's 14-7 with still a couple of minutes to go. I'm looking for Garo, and I'm ready to kill Garo, and I couldn't find him. He went down to one end of the bench, and I haven't seen him since." Despite Yepremian's mistake, Miami won to complete the NFL's only perfect season. Yepremian also kicked for the Dolphins when they repeated as champions in 1973. Prematurely bald and only 5-foot-8, the left-legged Yepremian hardly looked like an NFL star. He broke in with the Detroit Lions, who signed him as their first soccer-style kicker when that approach was a novelty. As a rookie in 1966 he broke a league record with six field goals in a game at Minnesota. He joined the Dolphins in 1970, made the Pro Bowl twice with them and led the league in field-goal accuracy three times. He also kicked for the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000492987/article/former-dolphins-kicker-garo-yepremian-dies-at-70 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narps Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 Geez man. Everybody is dying off it seems... :( RIP Garo I will never forget your one and only pass attempt against my boys. The only touchdown we got in that game but it was exciting and will be forever burned in my brain and I am sure Mike Bass will never forget it either... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tombstone Mountain Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 OK here's the master with Garo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goose Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 Another legend passes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueschica Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 RIP to a great guy! My husband and I were lucky enough to eat dinner with Garo and his wife about 15 years ago. He seemed like a super nice guy, very down to earth and hilarious. My kids' school was having some "year of character building" or such and had him come as a speaker at the end of the year. He agreed but wanted the dinner to be a potluck so that he could visit with as many people as possible. We were lucky enough to sit at his table and it was wonderful. He had all the stories of himself and his brothers learning to kick in bare feet while they were growing up tending the goats in Cyprus, it was great. He had written an autobiography for a small publisher and someone asked why it wasn't with Random House or someplace big and he said that those publishers wanted all the dirt on the Dolphins and he wanted to write a family friendly inspirational book. I don't think many of the kids knew who he was to start with but just about every dad came up with something for him to sign :) His wife was a sweetie, too; it was a memorable evening. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughedatbytime Posted May 16, 2015 Author Share Posted May 16, 2015 RIP to a great guy! My husband and I were lucky enough to eat dinner with Garo and his wife about 15 years ago. He seemed like a super nice guy, very down to earth and hilarious. My kids' school was having some "year of character building" or such and had him come as a speaker at the end of the year. He agreed but wanted the dinner to be a potluck so that he could visit with as many people as possible. We were lucky enough to sit at his table and it was wonderful. He had all the stories of himself and his brothers learning to kick in bare feet while they were growing up tending the goats in Cyprus, it was great. He had written an autobiography for a small publisher and someone asked why it wasn't with Random House or someplace big and he said that those publishers wanted all the dirt on the Dolphins and he wanted to write a family friendly inspirational book. I don't think many of the kids knew who he was to start with but just about every dad came up with something for him to sign :) His wife was a sweetie, too; it was a memorable evening.Great story! Sounds like a classy guy... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troutman Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 RIP :rose: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troutman Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 Geez man. Everybody is dying off it seems... :( RIP Garo I will never forget your one and only pass attempt against my boys. The only touchdown we got in that game but it was exciting and will be forever burned in my brain and I am sure Mike Bass will never forget it either... Yeah, It really sucks. Growing up watching so many of these athletes pass away breaks my heart. Regardless if I liked the team they were playing for. The memories will always be there. :codger: 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babycat Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 Rest in peace, dude... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troutman Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 I can still remember watching this game. :codger: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughedatbytime Posted May 16, 2015 Author Share Posted May 16, 2015 I can still remember watching this game. :codger: There was a great feature on this game on the NFL Network. Can't find it right now on youtube but if I do I'll post it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troutman Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 I can still remember watching this game. :codger: There was a great feature on this game on the NFL Network. Can't find it right now on youtube but if I do I'll post it. I think I remember that, I lived in Kansas City at the time. I was pulling for the Dolphins. My stepfather was a Chiefs fan. Thats why I am a Raiders fan. Watching the Raiders vs Chiefs back then was the reason why. :D 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Ways Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 I poured out a little Ale 8 for him yesterday 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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